New Colorado Eagles forward Kyle Kraemer in his first home game after being traded from Ontario. Kraemer has 190 career points in the ECHL. / Photo courtesty Standout Imagery

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LOVELAND — Kyle Kraemer’s professional life had taken a turn for the worse, but things quickly improved with a trade he never thought would happen.

Things had been going great for Kraemer until late January. That’s when the San Francisco Bulls folded, a move that ended up costing Kraemer his spot on the Ontario Reign.

The Bulls were affiliates of the San Jose Sharks in the NHL. When they folded, the Sharks added Ontario as an affiliate, moving a few players onto the Reign’s roster.

That left Kraemer in the cold. Despite registering 23 points in 26 games for the Western Conference’s first-place team, Kraemer was all of a sudden a healthy scratch and out of the lineup.

“I thought I was a big part of things, but they brought in their contract guys,” said Kraemer, who turns 29 on Saturday. “It was tough, but at the end of the day, it’s a business-type mentality. I just thought it was time to part ways, and now it feels great to be in Colorado.”

After talking with friend and teammate Chad Costello, Kraemer privately hoped he would end up going to the Colorado Eagles once he realized a trade was imminent. But he figured the Reign would never trade him to another team near the top of the Western Conference.

He was wrong. On Super Bowl Sunday, he got the call that he was heading to Colorado in exchange for popular defenseman Jason Beatty and forward Dylan Hood after Ontario reached out to Colorado general manager and coach Chris Stewart.

The Eagles get a right-handed forward who has 190 points in 216 career ECHL games, and a veteran spot (vacated by Beatty) is now open for possible use later.

“When it was thrown at me, I felt like if I didn’t catch this one, I would not be doing what we need to do,” Stewart said. “We’ve got a potential 70-point guy.”

Kraemer was ecstatic. He’s always enjoyed the atmosphere playing at the Budweiser Events Center and has had great success —registering 10 points in seven career games played at the BEC before his home debut Wednesday.

When he got word of the trade, the Eagles were in the middle of a road trip, so Kraemer packed his car and drove straight from Ontario (Calif.) to meet his new team in Las Vegas.

“I’m really excited to be part of this organization,” Kraemer said. “There’s a lot of history here, and it’s a great organization.”

He has two assists in his first five games with Colorado, gripping the stick a little too tight as he strives to impress. It’s not expected a point-per-game performer like Kraemer will be held down too long. Stewart wouldn’t be surprised to see a huge scoring surge from Kraemer once that first goal goes in.

“I need that goal,” Kramer said with a smile after Tuesday’s practice. “I feel a little pressure. I just want to be good for the guys here and help them out as much as I can.”

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at Twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.